Bolton: Bolton Wanderers, one of English football’s most historic teams, will go out of business on Wednesday unless a deal to buy the club can be resurrected.
The deal collapsed on Saturday and Bolton had been given until 5pm local time on Tuesday by the English Football League for a takeover to be completed or face having their league membership revoked.
Administrators said on Monday that if there is no breakthrough, “the process of closing down the company will commence on Wednesday”. That would result in Bolton’s expulsion from the league and the loss of more than 150 jobs.
Bolton are one of the founding members of the English Football League in 1888. The northern club are playing in the third tier after relegation from the League Championship last season.
“In just over 24 hours, the club will have its membership of the EFL revoked,” joint administrator Paul Appleton said in a statement on Bolton’s website. “Over and above that, the club is currently not in a position to carry on trading and, as such, the process of closing down the company will commence on Wednesday. This will ultimately lead to its liquidation, the expulsion of the club from the EFL and the inevitable loss of over 150 jobs. More than that, it will devastate a community for whom the football club is a beacon of hope and expectation.”
